AMALENA

The women in my family have a long, proud tradition of all having the best chicken soup/broth. Yes, that’s right. My momma’s chicken soup is better than your momma’s chicken soup. In fact, my momma uses your momma’s chicken soup to water down her chicken soup. At least, that’s what I used to tell the kids on the playground!

This recipe isn’t written anywhere in my family’s homes. My grandma learned it probably on a kibbutz, my mom learned it at some point from her, and a few years ago I nagged her into giving me a “recipe” which was difficult because, simply put, there isn’t one. I’m not even sure it qualifies as chicken soup, since even the ‘chicken’ part is more of a guideline than an actual rule, as you’ll see below.

When I asked my mom for the recipe, she basically told me, “Well, chicken bones. Maybe some other bones. These root vegetables sometimes. And… uh, secret ingredients.” Aka, she didn’t know, she cooks with feelings. Each batch is a little different. Everyone has their own version, and they’re all a little different. So, I’d like to make a record of my (usual) version to share, and to help you make your own!

These are all the potential ingredients to use:

For the bones –

• Chicken bones. I get these at a local kosher market, but you can just buy a rotisserie chicken and save the bones.
• Beef neck bones
• Turkey bones (especially after Thanksgiving!)
• Duck bones if you have and you’re feeling fancy
• This is based on a soup from a kosher household, so I can only recommend kosher animals, but whatever bones you have from animals you like to eat can work!

For the roots –

• Fennel bulb
• Parsnip
• Red onion
• Yellow onion
• Carrot
• Garlic (No, more garlic than that)
• Rutabaga
• Whatever other cool roots might be on sale and smell good
• I like to add ginger, but neither my mom or grandma do this

For the herbs, spices, and seasoning –

• Fresh thyme
• Fresh rosemary
• Fresh basil
• Bay leaves
• Fresh parsley
• Fresh fennel (cut off from the bulb)
• Star anise
• Whole peppercorn
• Fresh dill (I rarely use this because I can’t stand the smell of dill)
• Salt to taste (my mom excludes this entirely because she can’t ever get it right and just tells us to add to our own taste at the table)

You may notice I did not include measurements. That’s because I don’t have them. I use a fistful of this, a chunk of that. I don’t even know exactly how much water I put in. So, here’s how this works once you have the ingredients you want.

• Cut the roots in halves or quarters. You can either put them in the pot now, or you can char half of them in the oven by setting it to broil at max temperature. I like to char half, my mom does not.

• Use a red onion and leave the skin on for the non-charred chunks. For the charred chunks, take the skin off before charring but don’t throw it out. Put it in the pot. This enhances the color of your broth.

• I’ve heard people say that they want clear broth. This is not that. If you want a clear liquid, drink some water. You want to be able to tell that this is not water or a mild white tea. This is a SOUP. There is STUFF in it. And that’s how you know it’s GOOD.

Instructions:

• Put your bones in the pot.
• Put your roots in the pot.
• Put your herbs, spices, and seasoning in the pot.
• Fill it up with water and bring it to a boil.
• Then bring it down to a simmer.
• Leave it for 12 to 24 hours.
• Use a pasta strainer over a large mixing bowl or two (in your sink in case of spills!) to strain out all the ingredients and get just the broth.

You can keep it in mason jars, but if you freeze them, be sure to leave room at the top since liquid expands when frozen and it will crack glass and make a mess in your freezer if it doesn’t have room. I may or may not be speaking from experience.

Once it sits for a bit in storage, the fat will solidify at the top. You can scrape it off (my mom does this, she finds it too greasy) or leave it. If you leave it, it’ll make a beautiful golden layer along the top of your soup! If you scrape it off, save it. It’s called schmaltz and you can stick it in your freezer to use as an ingredient for other recipes down the line.

You can serve the soup as an appetizer or as a whole meal depending on what you serve it with and how much you want. Options include:

• mini star/alphabet pasta
• matza balls (of course, classic!)
• rice
• carrots and/or celery pieces
• a bit of parsley or scallions
• soup crackers
• Osem mini-mandels/soup croutons
• I’ve also made Korean mandu dumplings and put them in the broth, which worked better than I expected!

Unverified fact: this soup will cure the common cold.

Enjoy!